ADP National Employment Report: Fewer Private Sector Jobs Created than Expectated

Movements such as Ban the Box are helping ex-convicts find jobs upon their release from prison. (Photo: AP)

The ADP National Employment Report finds 147,000 private sector jobs were created in October, lower than the median estimate calling for 165,000. September payrolls were revised higher by 48,000 to 202,000.

“Job growth appears to be shifting from small to large companies due to the lessening impact the global economic environment had on large companies earlier in the year,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and head of the ADP Research Institute. “This is also true because large companies often have the resources to attract workers with better pay and benefit packages.”

The lower-paying service sector led the way by adding 165,000 jobs to the private sector payroll. Manufacturing, a higher-wage sector frequently cited during the U.S. presidential election cycle, lost another 1,000 jobs during the month of October. Overall, the higher-paying goods producing sector lost 18,000 jobs, with losses also coming in natural resources/mining (-1,000) and construction (-15,000).

“Job growth remains strong although the pace of growth appears to be slowing. Behind the slowdown is businesses’ difficulty filling open positions,” Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics said. “However, there is some weakness in construction, education and mining.”